In what was seen here as a turning point in efforts to end 15 years of civil war, members of a holdout Christian militia began withrawing Saturday from strongholds in East Beirut as units of the reunified national army stood by to move into the vacated areas. Once completed, the withdrawal of the militia, the Lebanese Forces, will leave Beirut and its suburbs free of all militias for the first time since the civil strife erupted in 1975. Moslem gunmen, including those of the...

The prime minister and Cabinet of Lebanon resigned Monday under pressure from thousands of protesters demanding an end to Syrian influence in their country, extending a dramatic wave of events jolting the autocratic politics of the Middle East. The resignations followed two months of swift political change across the region that already has yielded new elected leaders in Iraq and the Palestinian territories, a fragile cease-fire in the Israeli-Arab conflict and cautious gestures toward democracy...

Add these items to the "it could only happen in Lebanon" list: - Deadlocked over the election of a president, Christians and Moslems have formed two rival governments and appear headed for official partition-in effect, Lebanon's death as a nation. - Washington and Syria teamed up to shoehorn their candidate into the presidency. But they were frustrated by a Christian militia group, the Lebanese Forces, which is supported by the Palestine Liberation...

After a two-year trial, Samir Geagea, once Lebanon's most feared Christian militia leader, was acquitted Saturday of trying to overthrow the government and of masterminding a 1994 church bombing that killed 11 worshipers. Geagea, 45, already is serving life in prison for the 1990 murders of Christian rivals who challenged his authority during the 1975-1990 war. He has been held in a Defense Ministry prison for more than two years. Lebanon's highest court, the five-judge Judicial...

Weapons from Lebanon's now-quiet civil war are being used in ethnic violence in Yugoslavia after militias here sold part of their arsenals to separatists in Slovenia and Croatia, security officials and news reports said Sunday. The security officials said that $100 million worth of artillery, rocket launchers, machine guns and ammunition have been secretly sold on the Yugoslav market in the last four months, mostly by the largest Christian militia, the Lebanese Forces. A leading...

Weapons from Lebanon's now-quiet civil war are being used in ethnic violence in Yugoslavia after militias here sold part of their arsenals to separatists in Slovenia and Croatia, security officials and news reports said Sunday. The security officials said that $100 million worth of artillery, rocket launchers, machine guns and ammunition have been secretly sold on the Yugoslav market in the last four months, mostly by the largest Christian militia, the Lebanese Forces. A leading...

The Lebanese parliament failed to muster a quorum Thursday to elect a new head of state, causing concern about a further decay of the political situation as President Amin Gemayel's six-year term nears an end. The inability to obtain a quorum followed a campaign by a major Christian militia, the Lebanese Forces, to block the election of a Syrian-backed candidate, former President Suleiman Franjieh. Militiamen were accused of intimidating legislators to make them stay away. In...

The Lebanese army deployed thousands of troops in areas south, east and north of the capital on Wednesday, taking another big step toward reuniting Muslim and Christian parts of a country that was partitioned for years by civil war. Tank-led columns of soldiers fanned out into an area covering about 1,000 square miles, a quarter of Lebanon's territory. They took control of the Chouf mountains from Druse militiamen and the Christian enclave to the north and east of Beirut from the largest...

Forces loyal to President Amin Gemayel dealt a crushing defeat Wednesday to supporters of a Syrian-sponsored peace accord in daylong battles between Christians that killed at least 120 people and wounded hundreds more. Moslem militiamen responded to the inter-Christian fighting--possibly the most devastating in the decade-long civil war--by attacking Lebanon's Christian enclave. Gemayel's Phalangist fighters used tanks, artillery and gunboats and engaged in hand-to-hand combat to overrun...

In what was seen here as a turning point in efforts to end 15 years of civil war, members of a holdout Christian militia began withrawing Saturday from strongholds in East Beirut as units of the reunified national army stood by to move into the vacated areas. Once completed, the withdrawal of the militia, the Lebanese Forces, will leave Beirut and its suburbs free of all militias for the first time since the civil strife erupted in 1975. Moslem gunmen, including those of the...

Policy differences between Christian militia leaders took a collision course Saturday, jeopardizing the controversial Syrian-backed peace agreement to end nearly 11 years of civil war, political sources said. The internal crisis, the most serious within the Christian militia's camp since it rose against the traditional Christian leadership last March, also threatened to split the militia into camps loyal to its leader, Elie Hobeika, and his hard-line chief of staff, Samir Geagea, the...

Add these items to the "it could only happen in Lebanon" list: - Deadlocked over the election of a president, Christians and Moslems have formed two rival governments and appear headed for official partition-in effect, Lebanon's death as a nation. - Washington and Syria teamed up to shoehorn their candidate into the presidency. But they were frustrated by a Christian militia group, the Lebanese Forces, which is supported by the Palestine Liberation...

Leaders of Lebanon's rival militia forces signed a pact Saturday designed to end a decade of sectarian warfare that has left tens of thousands of people dead and devastated a country that was once among the most prosperous in the Middle East. The signing took place in Damascus under the supervision of Syrian Vice President Abdul-Halim Khaddam, who brokered the negotiations. The agreement was signed by Nabih Berri, leader of the mainstream Shiite Moslem movement called Amal; Walid...

The Lebanese parliament failed to muster a quorum Thursday to elect a new head of state, causing concern about a further decay of the political situation as President Amin Gemayel's six-year term nears an end. The inability to obtain a quorum followed a campaign by a major Christian militia, the Lebanese Forces, to block the election of a Syrian-backed candidate, former President Suleiman Franjieh. Militiamen were accused of intimidating legislators to make them stay away. In...

The Lebanese army deployed thousands of troops in areas south, east and north of the capital on Wednesday, taking another big step toward reuniting Muslim and Christian parts of a country that was partitioned for years by civil war. Tank-led columns of soldiers fanned out into an area covering about 1,000 square miles, a quarter of Lebanon's territory. They took control of the Chouf mountains from Druse militiamen and the Christian enclave to the north and east of Beirut from the largest...

Pro-Syrian militias again shelled the besieged mountain stronghold of President Amin Gemayel on Friday, prompting him to seek Soviet mediation to end the bloodshed. At the same time, the Christian Lebanese Forces militia asked for new Syrian-backed peace talks. Gemayel summoned Soviet Charge d`Affaires Yuri Suslikov and asked him to mediate with Damascus to restore Gemayel's communications with Syria, political sources said. There was no immediate reply from Syria, pro-Syrian leaders...

Although no one claimed responsibility, there were plenty of suspects in a car-bombing in Christian East Beirut on Tuesday that killed at least 25 people and wounded more than 125. "Syria did this," said a Christian politician. "We don`t have proof, but it's obvious, isn`t it?" Another posibility is that the booby trap was set by militiamen loyal to Elie Hobeika, who signed a Syrian-brokered peace pact on behalf of Lebanon's Christians last month. President Amin Gemayel's...

Although no one claimed responsibility, there were plenty of suspects in a car-bombing in Christian East Beirut on Tuesday that killed at least 25 people and wounded more than 125. "Syria did this," said a Christian politician. "We don`t have proof, but it's obvious, isn`t it?" Another posibility is that the booby trap was set by militiamen loyal to Elie Hobeika, who signed a Syrian-brokered peace pact on behalf of Lebanon's Christians last month. President Amin Gemayel's...

After a two-year trial, Samir Geagea, once Lebanon's most feared Christian militia leader, was acquitted Saturday of trying to overthrow the government and of masterminding a 1994 church bombing that killed 11 worshipers. Geagea, 45, already is serving life in prison for the 1990 murders of Christian rivals who challenged his authority during the 1975-1990 war. He has been held in a Defense Ministry prison for more than two years. Lebanon's highest court, the five-judge Judicial...

Artillery battles around President Amin Gemayel's home in the Lebanese mountains began to subside Thursday evening, easing fears of an imminent full- scale Syrian-backed offensive against the Christian enclave. Pro-Syrian militias exchanged heavy artillery fire with loyalist Lebanese army troops around the Gemayel family home at Bikfaya northeast of Beirut for most of Wednesday night and Thursday but called off their push on Syrian orders, militia sources said. There also was fighting...